Yes, I did rejoice.
Agreed.
And again, agreed.
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The 2025-2026 Football Thread
- Thread starter Scepticalscribe
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Damn friendlies. Damn them.
A waste of time, resources, and a perennial potential threat to the well-being and health of players.
Now, granted, in the old days, when international fixtures between the major tournaments were few and far between, I could understand the reasons behind arranging "friendly" international games, not least to allow teams to become familiar with one another (let alone their opponents).
Nowadays, with a cluttered fixture list (both for club and country), the old justifications for friendlies fall away; these days, with the surfeit of games, they are just an attention-seeking, money-grab, serving little reason or justification for existing.
Italy 1 - Norway 4 in the World Cup qualifying was rather fun, Haaland scored two and the Italians go to the playoffs while Norway go to the big stage.
Italy's team in the playoff's will be very important because there is the potential Italy could fail to qualify for the world cup for the 3rd time running. It would be a dark day in their history if they fail to qualify again.
Nobody is entitled to anything but I would like to have Italy in the WC.
The qualifying field is so large this time that it would be a real surprise if Italy don’t get through, though.
Italy will only have themselves to blame if they fail. Their playoff opponent will be a much weaker team, such as Northern Ireland. It might not be a complete walkover but Italy will be heavy favorites regardless who they draw.
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I agree - they are far from a guarantee, and if they fail, I'll chuckle. But they still have plenty of talent and should be able to qualify. You know Gattuso must be desperate if he complains about CONMEBOL....
Gattuso recently not only bad mouthed CONMEBOL WC qualifying process (too many WC places), but also Africa (too many WC places vs. when he was a player), and UEFA (when he was a player, group runner up always auto qualified (not true per BBC fact check)).
They could come up against Turkey or Poland, there are 16 teams in the playoffs for Europe and four spots to go through.
2 goals up away to Bournemouth already thanks to Calum Wilson. A third win in a row would be a fantastic turnaround for the mighty Hammers!
Still plenty of time to throw it away yet though.
Earlier Chelsea piled on the misery for Burnley beating them 0-2.
Still plenty of time to throw it away yet though.
Earlier Chelsea piled on the misery for Burnley beating them 0-2.
Very put out that Gabriel Maghalaes - one of our best players, an absolute rock at the core of our defence - sustained an injury that will keep him out "for weeks" (according to Mikel Arteta) during a (expletive deleted) - and entirely unnecessary - so-called "friendly" during the recent international window.
I know all the headlines will be about how poor Liverpool were at home, but I think credit should go to Sean Dache and Nottingham Forest. They played a blinder.
It does make you wonder about Liverpool. The long period at such a high level, and then suddenly a sustained streak of losses. The old adage of ‘attackers wins games, defences wins championships’ is something to reflect on…
Title hangover for LFC. It happens. Only City and Utd avoided it under Pep and Fergie.
Slot is younger and clearly hasn't found a way to navigate it yet
Some LFC faithful will also point to Jota being a factor
But credit should go to Dyche who worked them out brilliantly
Slot is younger and clearly hasn't found a way to navigate it yet
Some LFC faithful will also point to Jota being a factor
But credit should go to Dyche who worked them out brilliantly
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...and of course Sunderland lose their next game against Fulham.
Losing Gabriel is a big blow and the conspiracy theorist in me thinks Ancelotti was still salty about the Madrid result that he took liberties
I know i know thats crazy talk
Losing Gabby is a massive blow, i know we have cover. But he's almost singlehandedly won us at least 6 - 9 pts. I would've taken anyone else in defence getting injured but him
I now think we will struggle until Jan when he likely returns
Just don't understand international managers at times. Like why did Tuchel start Rice again after England secured qualification.
Annoyingly, i think City might win the title again.
EDIT: Thankfully NUFC did us a favour. Doesn't mean we'll capitalise btw. I don't enjoy facing Thomas Frank teams.
Losing Gabriel is a big blow and the conspiracy theorist in me thinks Ancelotti was still salty about the Madrid result that he took liberties
I know i know thats crazy talk
Losing Gabby is a massive blow, i know we have cover. But he's almost singlehandedly won us at least 6 - 9 pts. I would've taken anyone else in defence getting injured but him
I now think we will struggle until Jan when he likely returns
Just don't understand international managers at times. Like why did Tuchel start Rice again after England secured qualification.
Annoyingly, i think City might win the title again.
EDIT: Thankfully NUFC did us a favour. Doesn't mean we'll capitalise btw. I don't enjoy facing Thomas Frank teams.
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Only read the various reports but it sounds like we were comprehensively outplayed and at Anfield. I’d hoped the break would give Slot time to rethink because it’s obvious we need a new way to play even if only as a temporary measure
Perfect weekend for Arsenal so far. I hope they do not cock it up tomorrow.
Liverpool are really underperforming rather than playing especially badly. xG, xGA, passes, shots and possession are good but the finishing is lacking and teams are making the most of their chances against us. Squad transitions, sagging individual form, and more familiarity with Slot’s tactics all playing a part.
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